October 3, 1935.
Kingdom of Southern Germany.
The first to be affected by the changes in the administrative divisions of the Azande region in East Africa is the Kingdom of South Germany. As East Africa's most important ally in Africa, the economy of the Kingdom of South Germany is highly tied to East Africa.
Due to its early development history, the Chari River watershed is now the most developed area in Kingdom of Southern Germany. The adjustment of the administrative divisions of upstream East Africa also means that Industrial restructuring, Kingdom of Southern Germany related enterprises and foreign trade, as well as a series of issues such as transportation, will also need to be changed.
Therefore, in response to this administrative division adjustment in East Africa, Kingdom of Southern Germany specially invited the East African Ambassador to Kingdom of Southern Germany Klee to make inquiries. The current monarch Kingdom of Southern Germany is Wilhelm II, the grandson of the original Prince Sigmaringen Leopold.
After supporting Sigmaringen to develop Kingdom of Southern Germany in East Africa, the first successor was Leopold's son William, also known as King Wilhelm I. However, he died in 1927, and the throne was inherited by his eldest son Friedrich William, who is now Wilhelm II.
Beno City.
This is the new capital of Kingdom of Southern Germany. During the King Wilhelm I period, the Kingdom of Southern Germany territory experienced unprecedented expansion, and as Kingdom of Southern Germany acquired large tracts of land from the previous lives Nigeria and Cameroon.
So at the end of King Wilhelm I, that is, in the 1920s, Kingdom of Southern Germany began planning to move the capital from the original New Sigmaringen (N'Djamena) to Beno City.
The so-called Beno City is named after the Benue River. This river is an important tributary of the Niger River and the longest tributary of the Niger River, about 1,400 kilometers. The coast is also the key development area of Kingdom of Southern Germany. Beno City is built on the bank of the Benue River.
In the Beno City palace, Wilhelm II asked Ambassador Klee: "Ambassador Klee, what changes does your government plan to make in the recent administrative division adjustment in East Africa?"
Ambassador Klee replied, "Your Majesty, don't worry about this. Our current round of zoning adjustments is mainly to promote the development of the local economy and better connect North African Railway. Of course, there are also ecological considerations."
"This is also a good thing for Kingdom of Southern Germany, because after this zoning adjustment, the original Ok River watershed will be fully included in the new Azande Province management. In the coordination between the two countries on downstream Chari River water sources, efficiency will be improved and our domestic disputes over water issues will be reduced."
Regarding the water allocation of the Shari River, William II was actually not too interested. After all, the relationship between the South German Kingdom and East Africa was not the United States and Mexico. East Africa would not completely ignore the lives of the people along the downstream South German Kingdom for the sake of the development of its own Shari River basin.
Wilhelm II said, "I naturally have full trust in East Africa. After all, Kingdom of Southern Germany is East Africa's strongest ally and partner."
"However, I would like to know what layout your country has after opening North African Railway, and whether we at Kingdom of Southern Germany can participate in it. Did you also take North African Railway's factors into account in your administrative division adjustment this time?"
Klee did not hide it, but affirmed, "This is natural. It can be said that North African Railway is about to be completed, which itself is an opportunity for this zoning adjustment."
"As for some of the layout of North African Railway, this is no secret. In order to stimulate the potential of North African Railway in the future, we have classified most of the original East Azande Province area into Bavaria Province."
"Bavaria Province will become a key node and railway hub communicating trade between Great Lakes Region and Europe."
Wilhelm II put his finger on his chin and said after thinking, "In other words, the future development direction of the North African Railway trade route in East Africa is to connect with Great Lakes Region?"
Klee gave a positive answer to his idea, "North African Railway The investment is huge, and the population along the route is sparse, and the economy is seriously lagging behind. It is not enough to support the trade between the empire and the surrounding Mediterranean Sea countries."
"So, in order to recover the construction costs and maintain funds for subsequent railway operations, this railway must be connected to an economic entity of sufficient size."
"Great Lakes Region is in the East African region. Although it is not the core area, its size is second only to the eastern, western and central regions."
"Moreover, Great Lakes Region itself is located in the interior of the empire and has no access to the sea. North African Railway becomes a good choice. In this way, some goods that pursue efficiency and time can be sold to Mediterranean market through North African Railway, instead of having to detour from Mombasa, Douala and other ports like in the past."
Great Lakes Region's main cargo exports were basically transferred through Mombasa Port in the past, but from Great Lakes Region to Mombasa, it also had to be completed by road and railway, and even after going to sea, it had to go through a 5,000-kilometer sea route before finally reaching the Mediterranean Sea area.
In the future, when Great Lakes Region and North African Railway are connected, the products of Great Lakes Region will have to go through more than 3,000 kilometers of railways and finally reach Port of Benghazi of Mediterranean coast.
Both routes pass through land and sea, but the emphasis is different. The former is a longer sea route, and after entering Mediterranean Sea, it only reaches the north exit of Suez Canal, which is Port Said, and has to continue driving for some distance to various destinations in Europe.
If you are going to the Soviet Union, Ottoman Empire, or Balkan Peninsula and other markets, it is very convenient. If you are going to Western European countries, it is not too convenient.
The latter, the North African Railway line, can also be called the western line. The distance on land is longer and the transportation capacity is relatively limited, but it is faster to Mediterranean market.
The end point of North African Railway, which is Port of Benghazi, is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The distance from Benghazi to Mediterranean coast is relatively even. For some freight, it can further save maritime transportation costs.
Especially for Western Europe and countries in the Northwest Africa region, it will save nearly a thousand kilometers of sea distance compared to the eastern route which finally starts from Port Said north of Suez Canal.
It can be said that after the completion of North African Railway, if air transport is not considered, this line will be the fastest route from East Africa to Europe, especially Western Europe.
Therefore, for those products with high added value or those that pursue timeliness, you can also consider choosing North African Railway first line.
For provinces and cities along the North African Railway, especially in East Africa, the North African Railway is more cost-effective for trade around the Mediterranean.
Wilhelm II is obviously very interested in North African Railway, because this line has the same effect on Southern Germany.
He said, "We are also very interested in North African Railway to facilitate trade between Southeast and Europe and North Africa countries. We are considering building Southern Railway, or it can be connected with North African Railway."
Klee replied, "Of course we welcome this. After all, the economies of the two countries are highly integrated, and after years of development, Kingdom of Southern Germany has also reached a certain scale in terms of population and economy. After connecting with North African Railway, it will definitely be good for the southeastern region of Southern Germany."
Although Kingdom of Southern Germany is a large country in terms of territory, even close to two million square kilometers, its population distribution is very uneven due to environmental and water sources. Most of its territory is desert and extremely arid areas, and more than 90% of the population and cities live in the south.
In 1935, the total population of Kingdom of Southern Germany was approximately 5.8 million, of which nearly four million lived in the area from the Chari River to Lake Chad, which is the southeastern region of Kingdom of Southern Germany.
This is a good result. After all, there are not many countries and regions with more than 5 million Africans users.
In 1935, in the population ranking of African countries, except for Kingdom of Southern Germany, it was possible to identify countries with more than five million people. There were only five countries and regions in East Africa, Egypt, British Nigeria, Abyssinia, and Algeria.
As for other countries and regions, there is a lack of reliable data or they are relatively fragmented. For example, Morocco is divided into French Morocco, Spanish Morocco and a so-called international zone. If Morocco is completely unified, its population may be equivalent to Kingdom of Southern Germany.
In addition to these countries and regions, other countries and colonies have populations of hundreds of thousands, one or two million, and three or four million, but there is no real chance of exceeding five million.
The current population of Southern Germany is not low compared to the whole of Africa, but Kingdom of Southern Germany has only been a country for a few years, and it is not comparable to those countries at all.
If the comprehensive strength of African countries is assessed, Kingdom of Southern Germany can even squeeze into the top three. Its national strength is equivalent to that of Egypt, but the population of Egypt is more than three times that of Kingdom of Southern Germany.
The population of Egypt is close to 20 million, which also includes the millions of people in Sudan in the previous life. Because of the existence of East Africa, the United Kingdom accelerated the integration of Egypt and Sudan.
Thanks to this, Egypt is now firmly positioned as the third most populous country in Africa, second only to East Africa and British Nigeria.
In addition to the population advantage, Egypt has many advantages over Kingdom of Southern Germany. For example, Egypt has a long development history and an earlier modernization process. In Ali era, Egypt had already made initial attempts at modernization, but was later interrupted by Britain and France.
But in any case, in the early days of Kingdom of Southern Germany's establishment, Egypt had far deeper capital and foundation than the latter.
Although Kingdom of Southern Germany has developed to this day, there is certainly external help, including East Africa, Romania and Sigmaringen. However, East Africa has a more free-range attitude towards Kingdom of Southern Germany. The main support is to ensure its military security and provide some economic preferential policies.
Although Romania is also a member of Sigmaringen's royal family, Romania does not have the final say with the royal family. Coupled with the distance, the help to Kingdom of Southern Germany is even more limited.
As for Principality of Sigmaringen, this is the Ancestral land of the Kingdom of Southern Germany royal family, but as early as the Prussia period, just like Hechingen, it existed in name only, and was too small to support large-scale colonial activities.
Therefore, it is not easy for Kingdom of Southern Germany to transform from a colony provided by East Africa into a medium-sized country.
Wilhelm II said, "Although the main development direction of Southern Germany is now towards the west, it is obviously the best result for the southeast, as the main Source of finance and taxation, to cooperate with East Africa and connect with the East African market."
"In the future, when the west is fully developed, the South German economy can be fully activated. The inland direction can be connected to the East African market, and through the North African Railway, it can participate in trade with North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Going west, through coastal development, it can strengthen connections with the west coast of East Africa, West Africa, and Europe."
"The only thing that is regrettable now is that we did not get Lower Niger River's outlet to the sea. Otherwise, Kingdom of Southern Germany's future development potential will only be greater."
Benue River is now the key development area of Kingdom of Southern Germany, but the mainstream of the Niger River downstream is in the hands of British.
At the beginning, Kingdom of Southern Germany was in the hands of King Wilhelm I and continued to expand to the west. It was inevitable that it would confront British, and its expansion process was eventually forcibly interrupted by the British.
However, this is understandable. Throughout the early 20th century, as Britain continued to weaken overseas, especially markets such as Far East Empire and the Middle East, the trend of separatism in colonies such as India became stronger and stronger.
The UK is paying more and more attention to Nigeria. Compared with other regions, Nigeria is relatively easy for the UK to control. It is not difficult for British Navy to support Nigeria from Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, Nigeria is a prominent region in Africa regardless of population, cultivated land or resources.
Therefore, it is naturally impossible for the UK to allow Kingdom of Southern Germany to continue to grow and threaten its rule over Nigeria.
Although Kingdom of Southern Germany also has a strong backer in East Africa. If East Africa supports it, Kingdom of Southern Germany is not afraid of the United Kingdom. However, at this stage, East Africa has no intention of completely falling out with the United Kingdom, so it can only let Kingdom of Southern Germany take it easy.
Now it is estimated that Southern Germany will take decades just to digest the land occupied in the west. If its western expansion territory can be effectively developed, it will not be difficult to easily support a population of two to three thousand people.
Of course, if Niger River can get access to the sea, then Kingdom of Southern Germany will definitely hope to achieve this. In this way, Kingdom of Southern Germany can rely on sea and water transportation to speed up the development of the western land.
British also saw this, and was even more unwilling to let it occupy the Niger River seaport area.
Ambassador Klee said, "Now the area of Kingdom of Southern Germany is large enough, and you have also obtained a section of coastline. Although the construction cost of this coastline is high and it cannot be connected to the inland through water transportation, through land transportation construction, it is enough to temporarily meet the needs of Southern Germany."
"As for British, although it is declining, it is still a superpower that no country can easily ignore."
"However, Kingdom of Southern Germany is not without opportunities in the future. Now with the development of European situation, especially the growing strength of Germany and the Soviet Union, Europe will fall into a new round of turmoil sooner or later. When you plot Lower Niger River again, the resistance will be much smaller."
East Africa is not worried about Kingdom of Southern Germany acquiring Lower Niger River, including the area where Port Harcourt is located. After all, even if Kingdom of Southern Germany annexes there, it has the foundation to develop into a great power, and the gap with East Africa is still huge. After all, there are only two superpowers in the world with an area of more than 10 million square kilometers in East Africa, and there are only four including Britain and France.
Moreover, East Africa also hopes that Southern Germany will obtain more farmland to promote its population growth, so that Population buffer zone in northern East Africa can be more stable.